Flooring options change often as new materials and trends coming in thereby completely or partially removing from the scene flooring materials which were in use for a long time.
About ten years back,mosaic and mosaic tile flooring were in use.Now you do not see such flooring anywhere.Before that red oxide flooring was very common.Now it is difficult even to find good masons who knows how to lay red oxide flooring well.Plane cement plastering was also used for flooring.
Clay tile flooring
If you look at old palaces,clay tile flooring was quite common.But the quality of clay tile used were not good resulting in wear and tear of the clay tile surface.So,when I talk of going back to clay tile flooring first question I get is that will it last.
Present day clay tiles are better in quality.It will not get damaged due to constant movements of men and material on clay tile laid surface.On slope roof,you have to lay clay tiles to give it that old Kerala traditional house appearance.Unlike in the olden days clay tiles laid on slope roof will not get fungus on it as it will be painted with new anti fungal paint which will give natural clay colour for the tiles.There are special tile shield paints which protect the clay tile from effects of sun and rain at least for about 5 years and after this you will have to re paint it.
On flat roof surface old method of plastering exposed surface is not that good.With sun and rain lashing the flat roof surface,it will get a big coat of fungus and gradually plastered surface will whither away thus causing wetness damaging concrete surface gradually and if the concrete laying was not done properly(That is the usual case with workers trying to do an easy job and contractor trying to reduce costly material content to increase profit and “very clever”owner of the house who tried to save fees payable to professional engineers or a professional agency giving house construction work to that “square feet cost”contractor.In almost all cases owner of the house simply believes lies told by contractor to hide his improper methods of concrete laying, as he himself does not know much about proper laying of concrete)
Instead of plastering the exposed surface of flat roof concrete,if you lay clay tiles it will act as permanent protection against rain and sun for concreted surface.Clay tile laid will reduce a good portion of heat being passed on to concrete roof as it absorbs heat.This will result in better cooling inside house.Of course clay tile can also cause fungus formation on top of it.But if you polish the exposed clay tile surface after laying and apply anti fungal polyurethane coating,it will not attract fungus growth and clay tile will remain in tact braving sun and rain.On exposed roof surface you can also apply anti fungal tile shield paint.But it will not look that good .
Inside bed rooms you can go for clay tiles as it will be more environment eco friendly and definitely more healthier for you to move around or even sleep over bare floor .All other flooring materials except of course wooden flooring will not be eco friendly.
Wooden flooring
With cost of granite slabs going around Rs.200/-,using teak wood flooring will not be comparatively costly.There are agencies who will take up complete teak wood or other wood flooring on turn key basis including polishing using imported polishing material which will make the floor last for years without any damage.Of course you should not pour water over wooden floor surface or wash the floor with wet cloth.It will damage polishing.You can definitely use wooden flooring in areas where traffic is less like office room,bed rooms etc.
Other tiles
Granite and marble is on the way out of flooring.At least that is the present day trends .Marble is practically gone out and granite will move out shortly.Developments in technology has brought in materials like Naturoc tiles of NITCO and similar tiles from other manufacturers.These are available in thicker thickness thereby making it easy for bending edges like in granite.There are varieties of tiles which has got both anti stain mirror finish and rough surface.With rough surface tiles that can be bend at edges,these tiles make ideal choice for stair steps in place of granite slabs used earlier.
Tiles of various design and colour combinations now available and your Architect can custom design your toilet walls and floors using design specifically developed for you.
Outside wall tiles
Your compound walls and outside exposed walls can be given special exterior wall tiles with new design combinations.Similarly good design interlock tiles are available for laying in the compound and car porch
